According to Dunwoody resident M. Kay duPont, former First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln pioneered the action passionately advised by country singer Tammy Wynette—she “stood by her man,” sixteenth President Abraham Lincoln, through his arduous political rise and turbulent presidency.
     duPont’s new book, Loving Mr. Lincoln: The Personal Diaries of Mary Todd Lincoln, to be released in May, is the first work of historical fiction to chronicle Lincoln’s private and public life from his wife’s point of view.
     “(Mary) was a strong woman who saw a lot of potential in (Lincoln),” said duPont. “I believe the she was the strength behind his political determination, and I don’t think he ever would have been president without her.”
     While historians tend to paint Todd as a woman consumed by depression that debilitated her marriage and her husband’s presidency, duPont discovered a woman whose wit, intelligence and emotional sensitivities matched those of Lincoln and whose tenacity in achieving her social and political ambitions complemented his humble persona.
     “I wanted people to know how loving she was and how much she cared about her family and her country,” duPont said. The 380-page book begins on Todd’s 21st birthday, prior to her first encounter with the Illinois legislator and would-be president, and ends 26 years later with Lincoln’s assassination at Ford’s Theatre.
     Although “Loving Mr. Lincoln” is presented in a fictionalized diary format, the author aimed for as much historical accuracy as possible.
     In addition to Internet research, duPont combed through all of Lincoln’s congressional records and speeches, the couple’s personal correspondences, literature of the period and books written by family members.
     “I wanted to know what people of that time thought of (the Lincolns),” said the author, who long has been fascinated by the Civil War era.
     The end result is a novel rooted in fact—all of the events depicted in the book are true to history and most of the dialogue is taken from actual correspondence. The author’s challenge was striking balance between fact and fiction. “If it doesn’t read well, non-historians don’t like it,” noted duPont, and if it’s not historically accurate, historians don’t like it. It’s an odd genre.”
     Her efforts have not only attracted critical praise—Mary Todd Lincoln biographer Jean H. Baker calls the book a “sensitive appreciation of Todd”—they also have earned her the 2003 Georgia Writers Association Fiction Award.
     duPont, a communications skills coach who has worked with major companies such as Coca Cola and Turner Broadcasting, is building on the book’s momentum with the development of a one-woman show that she intends to take to schools, convention centers and other venues. She also has two other books on the back burner—a romance and a mystery.
     For now, however, her priorities are centered on promoting Mary Todd and “Loving Mr. Lincoln.”
     “We know a lot about how Abraham felt—this is Mary’s version,” duPont said. For more information about “Loving Mr. Lincoln: The Personal Diaries of Mary Todd Lincoln” visit
lovingmrlincoln.com or call 770-395-7483.